Is it me or does it often seem like funding a retirement forces us to choose between one of those 2 sets of beliefs? On one hand you, have index investing which boasts solid arguments: -the fact that a tiny portion of asset managers and investors are able to consistently beat indexes –unmatched diversification through ETF’s where one purchase can give you exposure to thousands of assets from around the world –the time saved by simply tracking a target asset allocation –index investing gives you exposure to other asset classes such as fixed income, real estate, etc. On the other hand, dividend investors raise strong points: –less fees: even though ETF fees are much smaller than mutual funds, they do charge more than holding those stocks directly –more control: being able to select your type of portfolio, holding stocks that you believe in and going for the stocks that you know and targeting the yield that matches you –more fun?: there’s no doubt that trying to make the best stock picks involves a lot more than simply buying that ETF and does become a challenge Do We Really Have To Choose? This might come as a surprise but I actually include both »Read more

In this latest edition, we are publishing the top viewed stocks on DividendStockAnalysis which can certainly be perceived as a major sign that these are companies that you should be looking into, here were the top viewed stocks in March:

Are you completely clueless about investing your money? Not sure where to start investing and what to do? Well today is your lucky day. We have scoured every single resource online to bring to you the ultimate starter piece for all rookies. If you’re not sure where to start with stocks right now, you’ll be pretty confident by the time you finish reading this. Let’s get started… What are the 10 investing rules for beginners? Rule #1: Find an investment account with a strong reputation You wouldn’t put your money in an unknown savings account nor would you sell your car through a shady dealer. The same goes for stock investing. You want to use a company that has a strong reputation in the investment community so that you don’t get the short end of the stick. You also want to ensure that your money is secure. Rule #2: Look for low account fees as a rookie How much are the account fees? When you’re first getting into the stock market, it helps to look around for low account fees so that you don’t spend an arm and a leg on selling/buying shares. You want this process to be affordable »Read more

The stock market has begun the year with impressive results showing the best month of January since 1997! I wasn’t even trading at that time! Investors are enthusiast about the US economy and it starts showing on the overall market. Known for more modest and stable performance, dividend stocks benefited from this rally as well. On February 12th, I’ve decided to pull out 35 dividend stocks outperforming the S&P500. I’ve included both stock growth to dividend payouts and selected stocks showing a 10% total return minimum. My other metrics were as follow: Stocks over $10 Paying between 3% and 6% dividend yield Dividend payout ratio under 75% P/E ratio under 20 I’ve taken off 4 stocks from the original list since I couldn’t get the dividend payout ratio properly from my screener. This should gives you some interesting stock picking ideas… This makes 35 top performer dividend stocks for 2013: My 4 Favorite Dividend Stocks from the List At the beginning of the year, I’ve compiled 30 dividend stock analyses (20 US and 10 Canadian) and created the 2013 Best Dividend Stocks guide. From the Top 35 performer I’ve listed in this »Read more

Investing has become easier for everybody now that we have the internet. The information is easily accessible, trading with a brokerage account has never been more simple and finding stocks with free screeners can be done by a 5th grader. But the fact that information has never been so accessible doesn’t make you a pro-trader and doesn’t guarantee that you will succeed investing. In fact, I would be tempted to say that we sometimes have too much information. This confuses investors and leads them to bad decisions. Do you think it’s better to chase high yield dividend paying stocks or is it better to buy a dividend aristocrat? Where is the best place to find dividend paying stocks? Once you have opened your brokerage account and you have a few thousand dollars, where do you start? There are Several Ways to Find Dividend Paying Stocks So where do you start to find your next dividend stock? A normal reflex would be to start with a free stock screener. If you start by looking for dividend yield, you better have a lot of spare time! Did you know that if you simply look for stocks paying over »Read more

Each month, Dividend Stock Analysis will interview an investment blogger. Instead of simply making a list of the top dividend investing blogs, we thought you would have more fun reading about the author prior to read his blog. If you have more questions about the blogger of the month, write your question in the comment section. Dividend Monk Profile December’s Dividend Stock Analysis contributor is Matt Alden from Dividend Monk. In my opinion, Matt’s blog is one of the most interesting and useful dividend blog of the internet. I’m almost jealous of his lengthy and detailed stock analyses on his blog! Engineer by day, dividend blogger by night, Matt’s investing advices are always welcomed. He also wrote a great book for any investors who wants to start buying dividend stocks: The Dividend Toolkit. Questions Asked to Matt #1 When did you start investing? I started investing in equities in 2005 #2 Why do you invest? What is/or your investing goal? I was always intrigued by economics and finance, despite going into the engineering field rather than into a financial profession. Warren Buffett was the largest influence on me, as he showed a deep knowledge of investing rather than just »Read more

Before you invest your first dollar in a dividend stock, it’s important to write down your dividend investing process on paper. It may surprise some readers but there is more than one way to build an effective dividend investing strategy. All dividend investors want to see their dividend portfolio grow and make a profit. But not all investing strategies will take into consideration their own personal and financial situation. In order to help guide you to build a solid dividend growth strategy, here are the 4 top questions to answer prior to buying stocks. How Much Time Do You Have To Manage Your Portfolio? It’s crucial to answer this question prior to even opening an investing account. If you don’t have much time to spend on dividend investing, an investment broker or advisor may be a great addition to guide you in your investing strategy. It is obviously more expensive but you will avoid a lot of damage that a lack of knowledge can make to your dividend stock portfolio. Another way to save on time without hurting your dividend strategy is to look into dividend ETFs. They show low MERs while providing an interesting »Read more

Each month, Dividend Stock Analysis will interview an investment blogger. Instead of simply making a list of the top dividend investing blogs, we thought you would have more fun reading about the author prior to read his blog. If you have more questions about the blogger of the month, write your question in the comment section. My Own Advisor Profile Mark is in his late 30’s and has been blogging at My Own Advisor since December 2009. He started investing by himself while he was in his 20’s and learned about the investing process by reading books (after he realized that he was paying high MER’s on mutual funds provided by his banker!). His main investing goal is to build a portfolio generating over $30,000 in dividend income. As at November 2012, he has reached 21% of his goal. This means his current dividend portfolio generates $6,300 per year in payouts. I particularly like his investing philosophy cited on his site: I believe it produces great returns over time. I buy companies that have a history of paying consistent dividends. I buy companies that have a history of increasing dividends over time. I only buy common stocks in these companies. I keep Canadian »Read more

There has been a lot of discussion in the past few months regarding tax rates for dividend investors. I guess one big reason is that in the US, higher tax rates were a big part of the most recent election. While the democrats led by Barack Obama campaigned on higher taxes overall, republicans said rates needed to remain low. There are a million reasons to keep taxes low, the main ones being: -lower taxes give incentives to reinvest -the biggest problem is government spending, not revenues -for dividends specifically, those amounts have already been taxed at the corporate level The problem though is that rates WILL go up. It’s only a matter of how and when. Why? Governments all around the world are feeling the heat as deficits pile in and their economies continue to struggle. It’s not just happening in the US but everywhere else. Retirement Non-Taxable Accounts, A Perfect Shield? I’ve heard from a few investors that said they didn’t care much about higher tax rates on dividends. Why? Because they hold their dividend portfolios in retirement accounts where income is not taxable. That is certainly a great idea when possible as it will end up making a huge long »Read more

In order to survive a key investing paradox: to find growth for your assets; you’ll have to ride the stock market rollercoaster with some highs and many drops, think dividend growth investing to answer your concerns. Dividend stocks are a great compromise between both growth from the stock market and steady distributions from fixed income. Before picking up any stocks paying a 5% distribution, there are some rules to follow. After all, I’m sure you don’t want to buy the next Yellow Pages, right? Rule #1: Look at the Right Ratios A good dividend stock in your portfolio is one that you will keep for several years. The power of dividend growth investing resides in companies that double their dividend at least every 10 years. This is how you can retire with a dividend portfolio yielding 8%. In order to find this lucky lady, you can start your research by filtering the stock market with the following ratios: Dividend Yield >3% (I’m going after yield after all) 5 Year Dividend Growth >1% (I want this yield to grow over time) Dividend Payout Ratio < 75% (I want sustainable dividend growth) 5 Year Annual Income Growth >1% (I want »Read more

Linked here is a detailed quantitative analysis of Nike, Inc. (NKE). Below are some highlights from the above linked analysis: Company Description: Nike, Inc. is the world’s leading designer and marketer of high-quality athletic footwear, athletic apparel and accessories. Fair Value: In calculating fair value, I consider the NPV MMA Differential Fair Value along with these four calculations of fair value, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:

Target Corporation (TGT) is a general merchandise retailer in the United States and Canada. Currently, the company has just under 2,000 stores.Target has a very long dividend growth streak going 46 years strong. Not only has Target been growing their dividend rate for nearly 5 decades, but they recently have been able to maintain a near 20% growth rate of that dividend.

Linked here is a detailed quantitative analysis of Monsanto Co. (MON). Below are some highlights from the above linked analysis: Company Description: Monsanto Co. is a global provider of agricultural products and integrated solutions for farmers.